John Berry

Terry, I was casting a size fourteen sulphur parachute. I was fishing a size sixteen pheasant tail earlier.

My client had no interest in fighting seven units on the White and slinging lead all day. We went to the Norfork and found low water. The going was slow early on but we held out for the hatch. About five o'clock they started coming off. We did well and fished until dark. The big fish was a twenty inch rainbow. The hot fly was a sulphur parachute during the hatch and a pheasant tail before it.

I took some clients into the Catch and Release section. We caught a few fish including some sixteen and eighteen inch bows. Around nine the water came up and we took my river boat (the mighty Shawnee) up to the dam and floated up there. We tagged a few brookies but the bite was a bit slow. They seemed to be running maybe a quarter of a generator so we opted to return to handicap and wade up into the Catch and Release section. We stayed there for the rest of the day and caught some pretty good fish.We hooked a monster and lost it. At five they turned on a lot of water and we walked out.

I took some clients into the Rim area. They were running a couple of generators. The water was gin clear and the sky was a bit overcast. It was quite warm. We tagged fish after fish on size eighteen zebra midges. In the morning the action was non-stop.Around 9:30 AM we lost count. It was mostly twelve to fourteen inch rainbows with a few browns thrown in to make it interesting.The afternoon was a bit slower but we managed to catch some larger fish. The guys tagged an eighteen inch bow and the last fish of the day was a spectacular twenty one inch hook jawed male brown. Immediately after landing it, an incoming thunder storm ran us off the river. All in all a great day!

Lori was fishing with a client Saturday so I tagged along to fish with some of the other anglers. We started out at Wildcat Shoals. Though the water was up a bit we caught several trout there mostly on the partridge and orange. After lunch we went to the Narrows. The water was up a bit there also. The fishing was a bit better, also on the partridge and orange. We observed sulphurs coming off but not enough to get the trout to key on them. We also saw two deer swim the river very near us. All in all a great day.

I fished the Catch and Release section of the Norfork Sunday. We did not catch a lot of fish but we caught some really nice trout. The smallest was fourteen but the big one was twenty one inches. Most were closer to seventeen or eighteen inches. My client hooked a monster but it was just too much for 6X tippet. The hot fly was a zebra size 18. The big fish was taken on a Y2K.

I would like to say that my lovely bride, Lori Sloas will also be presenting a program. This conclave looks to be the best ever. See you there.

I have had a bit of experience in fishing the Smokies. My daughter went to school in Knoxville and she got lots of visits from Dad. Townsend is definately the place to headquarter. It is at the park and any where you drive you pass great looking water. There is no neon or any traffic lights there. Check out the Little River Fly Shop in Townsend. It is a great full service fly shop. My favorite spot was Metcalf Bottoms in the park. It is pretty much wild trout and dry flies. Life is good!

I think you should consider the TFO finesse 4 wt 8ft 9in rod. I bought one recently and really like it . It is quite similar to my beloved Sage Light Line except it is much less expensive and its a four piece.

Rusty, Nice to hear from you again. I would recommend sowbugs on at least 5X tippet. Do not try to cast as there is too much cover. High stick deep fast moving runs. Take the biggest net you have and a camera. Good Luck!

Terry, Yes. That said, I am sitting here thinking about tying some for next year with bright green bodies. The ones I am currently fishing with are probably closer to olive. I did tie some earlier that had a peacock body with a bright green tag. They were killer but are all gone. The one thing about a two month hatch, you are going to burn some flies.

We fished Roundhouse Shoals in Cotter yesterday. We were looking for Sulphurs but did not see any. The caddis hatch occurred about 3:30 PM but was greatly diminished. In spite of that, we managed to catch quite a few on elk hair caddis.The adult caddis were a bit smaller (size 16) and they still had the bright green bodies. The hot fly was the elk hair caddis. We also caught fish on partridge and green and sowbugs. We caught several browns but no big fish.

I have had the pleasure of trying Dennis Slane's Dutch oven cooking and can attest that he is the master of the art form. My wife,Lori, has taken his class at every Conclave she has attended , bought a dutch oven and has not yet produced any results.

Glad you had a good trip. I believe the White is fishing a little better but the Norfork is always my hands down favorite.

Don, I fished Jenkins Creek last week and it was excellent. I caught a seventeen inch rainbow and a lot of fish in the 13-14 inch range. All on Partridge and Green.

Terry, Rim has been hotter than a pistol for the last two months. I know that my fishing reports are getting repetitive but it has been fishing so good that I keep taking clients there and we keep catching fish. Come on down!

We fished Rim Shoals yesterday. Through out the day we fished various nymphs but the caddis pupa was the best producer. About four o'clock a sulphur hatch came off. We switched to a quick sight sulphur parachutes and immediately started hooking up trout. The action was non stop for about an hour and a half. We noted a size sixteen caddis hatch coming off at the same time but the trout were definately keying in on the sulphurs. We caught too many fish to count. The largest were three sixteen inch rainbows taken on dry flies. Life is good.

The Orvis Super Strong Tippet that I use has a greenish tint to it.

Though it threatened to rain all day it never did. The temperatures were near perfect and the winds were for the most part light and variable. It was very overcast all day and the river was on the bottom. I took two clients to Rim Shoals. For one of them, it was his first fly fishing experience and he caught over twenty. The other angler was more seasoned and he landed in excess of thirty five. The hot fly in the morning was the caddis pupa. In the afternoon the partridge and green was the top producer. Though we got a good caddis hatch in the afternoon, we were unable to effectively fish it because it was so overcast. We were unable to see the size sixteen elk hair caddis. The largest fish was a sixteen incher although most were thirteen to fourteen inches. We fished late.

I have not fished the Norfork since Sunday but I would expect that the conditions are the same. We have had low water with a bit of generation in the afternoons. We have also been getting a decent caddis hatch in the afternoons. I hope this helps.

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Sure Dano. My recipe is: Norfork Beadhead Hook: Tiemco 2488 size 18 Bead: 3/32 silver Thread: Olive 6/0 Body; Vinyl Rib Small Put the bead on the hook and insert it in the vise. I generally put a wrap or two of fine lead wire around the hook and shove it up into the bead to keep it from wobbling and add weight. Lay on a thread base. Tie in the vinyl rib. wrap the vinyl rib up to the bead tie off and trim. Tie whip finish. I tie these in olive, black, red, gray, and amber. Fish them with a dead drift. They are killer!

I took a couple of clients on the Norfork today. The water was clear, clean, and on the bottom. I was surprised that is was not crowded. We caught plenty of fish. The emphasis was on quality. Two Rainbows over eighteen inches, a very fine brown, and several brookies. We were looking for the cutthroat for the Grand Slam. We saw him, but he was not interested. The hot fly was the olive Norfork Beadhead size twenty. We also took several on a brown san juan worm.

Moose, glad you have a good day. There is some didy further down at Rim but nothing like you describe. Only time will tell the effects of this stuff.

Lori and I took a group into Rim Shoals today. Our clients averaged over twenty five fish a piece. Most of the action was on the top. Elk Hair Caddis, Green Butts, and Partridge and Green were the top producers. We fished black zebra midges when there was a lull in the hatches. The insects were a bit smaller maybe sixteens. There were two differant caddis. A green one and a tan one. Most of the action was early and late. The middle of the day was a bit slow.